Agency that falsely claimed it signed contract with Shim Eun-ha says it was scammed

Actor Shim Eun-ha during an election campaign event for her husband, former National Assembly representative Ji Sang-wook, at a market in central Seoul on April 7, 2020. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Shim Eun-ha did not receive any down payment for a contact from agency BY4M, a spokesperson for the agency told local press outlet Ilgan Sports Thursday.

“We have finally confirmed that the person who received 1.5 billion won ($1.2 million) from us to pay Shim the down payment had not in fact delivered the money to Shim,” said the spokesperson for BY4M. “The person in question claimed to have been entrusted with a contract to appear on behalf of Shim, but the payment does not seem to have been made to the actor herself. We sincerely apologize for having caused trouble to Shim and her family due to our faulty handing of the funds.”

The spokesperson said that BY4M is arranging “various related matters in order to take very strong legal action.”

BY4M had made an official announcement Wednesday that it signed an exclusive contract with Shim and had paid her a down payment to make a comeback from her 22-year hiatus from acting. Shim’s potential return to the entertainment industry was big news in Korea as she was one of the 90s' leading actors.

However, Shim refuted the reports. In March 2022, when news that BY4M had taken part in funding the production for Shim’s comeback broke, she announced that this was unfounded and that she would consider legal action against false reports.

Ahn Tae-ho, CEO of Clover Company who had represented Shim on various occasions after she retired from acting, told Ilgan Sports that BY4M has been leveraging and taking advantage of the news of Shim’s return. “Nothing has been paid to Shim and everything is completely unfounded,” Ahn told Ilgan Sports. “We are securing various materials and plan to take legal action against BY4M.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]